Buffalo, NY - Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) has been awarded a $1.8 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to study new therapeutic approaches for treating B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-NHL). Myron Czuczman, MD, Chief Lymphoma/Myeloma Section of the Department of Medicine at RPCI is the principal investigator of the five-year study.

Studies show greater than half of B-NHL patients who relapse develop therapy-resistant disease. This sort of resistance remains a major clinical problem and cause of mortality. The study aims to identify novel ways to treat this relapse, specifically in patients with B-NHL.

A specific proteasome inhibitor named bortezomib has shown promise in the treatment of therapy-resistant B-NHL and will be the major focus of the study. A second overall purpose of the study is to precisely define how these new methods are able to kill B-NHL when it is resistant to conventional therapies. Scientists are hoping to develop an effective, less toxic regimen for patients with recurrent disease.

The mission of Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) is to understand, prevent and cure cancer. RPCI, founded in 1898, was one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. The Institute is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation's leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs. For more information, visit RPCI's website at http://www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or email askrpci@roswellpark.org.